Skip to content
Charleston Museum, Charleston, SC

Photo: ProfReader, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

Museums

Charleston Museum

South Carolina's Lowcountry history museum, founded in 1773 and billed as the nation's first museum.

360 Meeting Street, Charleston, SC 29403 · Charleston, SC

About Charleston Museum

Located in the Wraggborough neighborhood, this museum holds historic artifacts, natural history specimens, decorative arts, and two historic houses. Its galleries cover the region from ancient fossils and early indigenous life through the Revolution, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and later events such as Hurricane Hugo. Visitors can see a submarine-related featured exhibition, a children's hands-on history gallery called Kidstory, and a notable silver collection. The museum also operates the Heyward-Washington House, a Georgian home with an 18th-century kitchen house, and the Joseph Manigault House, a Federal-style townhouse near the museum.

  • #history
  • #natural history
  • #Lowcountry
  • #Revolutionary War
  • #Civil War

What's around here?

The closest stops to Charleston Museum, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Museums
    History Buff

    International African American Museum

    Under $25

    Explore African American history on Gadsden's Wharf, where a large share of enslaved Africans arrived in North America.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

    0.6 mi awayMore like this

  • Attractions
    Family Favorite

    South Carolina Aquarium

    $25–$50

    Walk from mountain streams to the open ocean through South Carolina habitats, then touch rays and watch sea turtles in recovery.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

    0.6 mi awaySwitch it up: Attractions

  • Museums

    Fort Sumter Visitor Education Center

    Check prices

    National Park Service exhibit at Liberty Square explaining the road to the first Civil War shots.

    0.6 mi awayMore like this

  • Shopping
    Iconic

    Charleston City Market

    No admission fee

    Browse four blocks of open-air sheds and the Great Hall for sweetgrass baskets, local crafts and souvenirs.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

    0.7 mi awaySwitch it up: Shopping

  • Sports & Outdoors

    Mitchell Playground

    Check prices

    City-run playground and sports park beside an elementary school in Charleston.

    0.8 mi awaySwitch it up: Sports & Outdoors

  • Museums
    History Buff

    Gibbes Museum of Art

    Check prices

    See American art tied to Charleston and the South inside a 1905 Beaux Arts gallery on Meeting Street in the historic district.

    0.8 mi awayMore like this

Near Charleston Museum

More of the same kind

Keep exploring